Cockroach

--A Trigun fanfiction

Summary: Knives learns the hard way that there are some creatures in the world far more powerful, far more deadly then first anticipated. And that there are some creatures that just won't stay dead...[Takes place after the end of the anime version of Trigun, one-shot, vampiric]

Author's Notes: Yes, yes, I'm alive! Well,sorta ; For those of you still following CoH, I'm sorry for the delay! The last chapter's coming soon! I just sorta lost interest in it, so the last chapter just...died. Yeah. Anyway, I'm hoping this will be the first of a spurt of new fics that I've written ((or half-written)) but haven't found the time or interest to post. For now, enjoy!

Recommended listening music: Blue Summers: Trigun, the Second Donuts

The day was beautiful and blue, a gentle breeze blowing the wisps of clouds through the sky, yet a cold feeling seemed to settle over the room, as though leaking in from the walls themselves. The shadows themselves seemed to bend and sway, contorting into strange patterns for the one who might control them.

One step forward.

He couldn't feel the presence approaching. Nothing was there to tell him--not the mirror on the wall that remained strangely empty, nor any creak of wood under the feather-light footsteps that needn't have even touched the floor at all.

Two steps forward.

With his eyes to the sky, he never knew until it was too late.

Three steps forward.

Never knew that there were other creatures in this twisted world besides himself that simply would not die. Like cockroaches, they would always find a way to return. Always.

Silent steps.

The only outward clues were easily masked. Not even his plant genes could have allowed him to see what was willed to invisibility by a mind more powerful then any could have anticipated.

The steps of the living dead.

And so he was blind, as his hands traced over the wounds in his arms and legs, his eyes watching the sky like mirrors for the brilliant blue. He could not move, could not run, even if he'd wanted to. Even if he'd known.

Halted...

He stiffened suddenly as fingertips, cold as ice, traced their way across his bare shoulders, revealing the fingerless gloves they were placed in. He tried to move, to turn and strike what had dared to touch him, but he found he could not.

Halted...

Breathing heavily, sweat trickling down his cheek though he did not know why, he strained against the invisible hands that kept his body locked firmly in place. There was a pressure on his shoulders from the icy hands, as though guiding his head to tilt to one side. He could almost feel the presence inside his mind, twisting any messages sent to his body for movement, and he shuddered at the unbound strength he could feel pouring from the presence.

Halted.

And as sharp teeth, released from their sheath-like gums, sunk into the pale flesh of his neck at a slow, excruciating pace, Millions Knives moved his eyes just a little. His mouth was wide with a fear that he had never felt before.

My master.

Brilliant golden eyes of the one who would not die--the cockroach whose true potential had been buried by the ideals of one not even human--burned themselves into his very soul like a knife. And as the life was slowly drained from his being, he managed to breathe out a single word before his eyes slid back into his skull, his body becoming limp and falling into the folds of a white coat.

"Legato"

My prey.

Fin